Natal Sharks
5476385
215821280
2008-05-29T21:15:10Z
203.51.105.179
/* Natal Springboks */
{{Rugby team
| teamname = Natal Sharks
| image = Sharkie.gif|center
| fullname = ''Natal Sharks''
| union = KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union
| region = [[Durban]], [[KwaZulu-Natal]], [[South Africa]]
| countryflag = South Africa
| emblem = [[Shark]]
| colours = Black & white
| founded = 1890
| coach = [[Dick Muir]]
| captain = [[Johann Muller]]
| sport = [[Rugby union]]
| league = [[Currie Cup]]
| season = [[2006 Currie Cup season|Position 2007]]
| position = 2nd
| league = [[Currie Cup]]
| ground = [[Kings Park Stadium|ABSA Stadium (Kings Park)]]
| capacity = 52,000
| web = [http://www.sharksrugby.co.za/ sharksrugby.co.za]
}}
The '''Natal Sharks''' are a [[South Africa]]n [[rugby union]] team that participate in the annual [[Currie Cup]] [[tournament]]. They play out of [[Durban]] at [[Kings Park Stadium]], currently known for sponsorship reasons as [[ABSA]] Stadium. They draw most of their players from the [[KwaZulu-Natal Province]]. The Sharks are the current incarnation of the Natal rugby Union, founded in 1890. The team were known simply as 'the Banana Boys' until the mid-1990s.
The [[Sharks (Super rugby franchise)|Sharks]] of the [[Super 14]] competition are basically the same team who currently also play in Durban and draw their players from the [[Natal]] area. For most of Super Rugby history, the Sharks Super Rugby franchise drew players from a larger area than did the Natal Sharks, with the rugby unions of [[Border]], based in [[East London]] and [[Eastern Province]] from [[Port Elizabeth]] included in the Sharks franchise.
==History==
The Natal Rugby Union was founded in 1890. Natal made their first [[Currie Cup]] final appearance in the 1956 season, where they met [[Northern Transvaal]] at home, [[Kings Park Stadium]] in [[Durban]]. Natal went down by just a single point, with Northern Transvaal winning the match nine points to eight.
Natal made the final again in the 1984 season, when they met [[Western Province]] at [[Newlands Stadium]] in [[Cape Town]]. Natal lost the match nineteen points to nine. Natal met 1956 final opponents, Northern Transvaal, in the legendary 1990 final in Pretoria, though this time, Natal won the contest, claiming their first ever Currie Cup, with the final score being 18 points to 12. Natal won the match with Tony Watson's famous '9 point try'. With score at 12-9, Right Winger Tony Watson touched down to make it 13-12 in Natal's favour, but he was fouled upon scoring. Stransky converted to give Natal a 3-point lead, and his successful subsequent penalty gave Natal the six point lead which they held until the final whistle. The victorious side were captained by scrumhalf Craig Jamieson, who led the team on a ticker-tape parade through central Durban later in the week. The victory was especially poignant for being both Natal's first, and for occurring in the Union's Centenary year.
Natal were again in the finals only two seasons after their 1990 victory. They won their second Currie Cup title, defeating Transvaal by a single point, winning 14 points to 13 at [[Ellis Park Stadium|Ellis Park]] in [[Johannesburg]]. This was another important victory, because it confirmed that Natal were consistently good performers, and not just one-hit wonders. The Sharks' success in the 1990s continued, with the team making it to the following season's final as well, though they were not able to win back-to-back titles, going down to [[Transvaal]] 21-15 at home.
Natal provided virtually all the players who participated in the Sharks squads of the 1990s in first the Super 10 competition, and its later edition, the Super 12. Durban-based players continue to provide the bulk of the current Super 14 squad. Natal and the Sharks performed inconsistently in the early years of the Southern Hemisphere competition, but earned the respect of Antipodean clubs and reached the final of the second Super 10 competition in 1994. The team developed a particularly intense rivalry with the Auckland Blues, and Sharks-Blues contests are usually one of the highlights of Super rugby. The team also particularly enjoys defeating Brisbane's Queensland Reds, mostly due to a rivalry that dates back to the 1994 Super 10 final, won by Queensland, and the fact that Durban and Brisbane are considered by many to be almost 'twin cities', sharing a similar climate, population size, and relaxed, seaside atmosphere. Natal reached the final of the 1996 Super 12 competition where they lost to Auckland, and the Sharks reached the 2001 final where they lost to the Brumbies.
The Natal Sharks continued to feature in the 90's and won more Currie Cup titles than any other team in the same period. Natal won the 1995 Currie Cup, defeating Western Province 25-17 at home and then defeating the [[Golden Lions]] in the 1996 decider, 33-15 at Ellis Park, their first back-to-back title. They made one other final appearance during the decade, against 1996 finalists, the Golden Lions, who defeated the Sharks 32-9 in Durban.
Following the 1999 final loss to the Golden Lions, the Sharks again made it to the final in 2000, but again lost, this time to Western Province in Durban 25-15. They faced Western Province again in the 2001 final in Cape Town, and again they lost 29-24. The Sharks did not feature in the 2002 final, but faced the Blue Bulls in the 2003 final, who defeated them 40-19 in Pretoria. The Sharks made it to the first-ever all-South African final of the Super 14 2007, losing narrowly to fellow South Africans The Blue Bulls 20-19.
==The Natal Sharks Region==
{{Image label begin|image=South Africa Provinces showing KZ.png|caption=The geographical area covered by The Natal Sharks|width={{{width|250}}}|float={{{float|right}}}}}
{{Image label end}}
The Natal Sharks franchise covers the province of [[KwaZulu-Natal]]. The two main cities from which most of its players are drawn are [[Durban]] and [[Pietermaritzburg]].
==Current squad==
{| class="toccolours" style="border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
|valign="top"|
* [[Skipper Badenhorst]]
* [[Bradley Barritt]]
* [[Nikolai Blignaut]]
* [[Jacques Botes]]
* [[BJ Botha]]
* [[Craig Burden]]
* [[Deon Carstens]]
* [[Patric Cilliers]]
* [[Keegan Daniel]]
* [[Jean Deysel]]
|width="25"|
|valign="top"|
* [[Bismarck du Plessis]]
* [[Jannie du Plessis]]
* [[Alistair Hargreaves]]
* [[Robbie Harris]]
* [[Adrian Jacobs]]
* [[Jody Jenneker]]
* [[Ryan Kankowski]]
* [[Rory Kockott]]
* [[Kees Lensing]]
* [[Scott Mathie]]
|width="25"|
|valign="top"|
* [[Dumisani Matyeshana]]
* [[Chark McLeod]]
* [[Henno Mentz]]
* [[Frédéric Michalak]]
* [[Tendai 'beast' Mtawarira]]
* [[Johann Muller]]
* [[Waylon Murray]]
* [[Odwa Ndungane]]
* [[Ruan Pienaar]]
|width="25"|
|valign="top"|
* [[JP Pietersen]]
* [[Johan Snyman]]
* [[Francois Steyn]]
* [[Andries Strauss]]
* [[Steven Sykes]]
* [[Stefan Terblanche]]
* [[Albert van den Berg]]
* [[AJ Venter]]
* [[Frank Wagenstroom]]
|}
==Natal Springboks==
{| class="toccolours" style="border-collapse: collapse;"
|-----
| valign="top" |
*[[George Merry]]
*[[Alf Walker]]
*[[Bill Payn]]
*[[Bertram van der Plank]]
*[[Bill Zeller]]
*[[Taffy Townsend]]
*[[Wally Clarkson]]
*[[Phil Nel]]
*[[Jacko Tod]]
*[[Ebbo Bastard]]
*[[Pat Lyster]]
*[[Cecil Moss]]
*[[Roy Dryburgh]]
*[[Keith Oxlee]]
*[[Ormond Taylor]]
*[[Don Walton]]
*[[Trix Truter]]
*[[Snowy Suter]]
*[[Tommie Bedford]]
*[[Rodney Gould (rugby player)|Rodney Gould]]
*[[Hannes Viljoen]]
*[[Piston van Wyk]]
*[[Ian McCallum]]
*[[Derek van den Berg]]
| valign="top" |
*[[Wynand Claassen]]
*[[Vleis Visagie]]
*[[Lood Muller]]
*[[Hugh Reece-Edwards]]
*[[Wahl Bartmann]]
*[[Robert du Preez]]
*[[John Allan]]
*[[André Joubert]]
*[[Steve Atherton]]
*[[Henry Honiball]]
*[[Guy Kebble]]
*[[Gary Teichmann]]
*[[Joel Stransky]]
*[[Adrian Garvey]]
*[[James Small]]
*[[Pieter Muller]]
*[[Johan Ackerman]]
*[[Deon Kayser]]
*[[Warren Brosnihan]]
*[[Mark Andrews]]
*[[Wayne Fyvie]]
*[[Ettiené Fynn]]
*[[Ollie le Roux]]
*[[Warren Britz]]
| valign="top" |
*[[AJ Venter]]
*[[Albert van den Berg]]
*[[André Snyman]]
*[[Robbie Kempson]]
*[[Percy Montgomery]]
*[[Ricardo Loubscher]]
*[[Stefan Terblanche]]
*[[Lukas van Biljon]]
*[[Trevor Halstead]]
*[[Craig Davidson (Rugby player)|Craig Davidson]]
*[[John Smit]]
*[[Shaun Sowerby]]
*[[Deon Carstens]]
*[[Solly Tyibilika]]
*[[Butch James]]
*[[Henno Mentz]]
*[[Brent Russell]]
*[[BJ Botha]]
*[[Johann Muller]]
*[[Ruan Pienaar]]
*[[JP Pietersen]]
*[[Francois Steyn]]
*[[Ryan Kankowski]]
|}
==Finals results==
===Currie Cup===
{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%; border-collapse:collapse;"
|- style="background:#C1D8FF;"
!Season
!Winners
!Score
!Runner-up
!Venue
|- style="background:#F5FAFF;"
|[[1956]]
|[[Blue Bulls|Northern Transvaal]]
|9 - 8
|Natal Sharks
|[[Kings Park Stadium]], [[Durban]]
|- style="background:#F5FAFF;"
|[[1984]]
|[[Western Province (rugby)|Western Province]]
|19 - 9
|Natal Sharks
|[[Newlands Stadium]], [[Cape Town]]
|- style="background:#F5FAFF;"
|[[1990]]
|Natal Sharks
|18 - 12
|[[Blue Bulls|Northern Transvaal]]
|[[Loftus Versfeld]], [[Pretoria]]
|- style="background:#F5FAFF;"
|[[1992]]
|Natal Sharks
|14 - 13
|[[Golden Lions|Transvaal]]
|[[Ellis Park Stadium|Ellis Park]], [[Johannesburg]]
|- style="background:#F5FAFF;"
|[[1993]]
|[[Golden Lions|Transvaal]]
|21 - 15
|Natal Sharks
|[[Kings Park Stadium]], [[Durban]]
|- style="background:#F5FAFF;"
|[[1995]]
|Natal Sharks
|25 - 17
|[[Western Province (rugby)|Western Province]]
|[[Kings Park Stadium]], [[Durban]]
|- style="background:#F5FAFF;"
|[[1996]]
|Natal Sharks
|33 - 15
|[[Golden Lions]]<sup>1</sup>
|[[Ellis Park Stadium|Ellis Park]], [[Johannesburg]]
|- style="background:#F5FAFF;"
|[[1999]]
|[[Golden Lions]]
|32 - 9
|Natal Sharks
|[[Kings Park Stadium]], [[Durban]]
|- style="background:#F5FAFF;"
|[[2000]]
|[[Western Province (rugby)|Western Province]]
|25 - 15
|Natal Sharks
|[[Absa Stadium]], [[Durban]]
|- style="background:#F5FAFF;"
|[[2001]]
|[[Western Province (rugby)|Western Province]]
|29 - 24
|Natal Sharks
|[[Newlands Stadium|Newlands]], [[Cape Town]]
|- style="background:#F5FAFF;"
|[[2003]]
|[[Blue Bulls]]<sup>2</sup>
|40 - 19
|Natal Sharks
|[[Loftus Versfeld]], [[Pretoria]]
|}
===Notes===
<div class="references-small">
<sup>1</sup> Transvaal were renamed the Gauteng Lions; now known as Golden Lions.<br>
<sup>2</sup> Northern Transvaal were renamed the Blue Bulls.<br>
</div>
==External links==
* [http://www.sharksrugby.co.za/ Official website]
{{Currie cup}}
{{Rugby union in South Africa}}
[[Category:South African rugby union teams]]
[[fr:Natal Sharks]]
[[it:Natal Sharks]]